Disaster risk reduction campaigns attract communities

Kampong Speu (18 Jan 2018) – Approximately five hundred people, one third of them are children and young adults, from 17 villages in Kahaeng commune of Samrong Tong district in Kampong Speu province joined a series of campaign on disaster risk reduction tonight.

It was the second campaign in a series of three, funded by European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) through DanChurchAid (DCA). The campaigns aimed to raise public awareness around Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Management Law and the responsibilities of communities and duty bearers in preparing for disasters, particularly in peri-urban areas.

The first one was conducted at public place in front of Sambo commune office, attracting at least 300 people from 18 villages in the Sambo commune of Samrong Tong district to join.

Posters, banners, backdrops, and leaflets were displayed around the audience stage. One of the posters read, “Disaster risk reduction is the role of all people.” “Working together to build a community resilient to disaster and climate change,” read another poster.

Speaking in the first campaign, Peter Bo, DCA Country Director, hoped that the campaigns would help raise awareness on resilience to disaster. “When you are ready before something happens, so you can minimize risks of the bad things,” he said, adding that having knowledge on how to prepare was very important. “Prevention is better than cure.”

Peter Bo

He advised the communities to keep wastes properly because they could affect human’s health negatively through flies.

Peter thanked the district deputy governor, Provincial Committee for Disaster Management, District Committee for Disaster Management, Commune Committee for Disaster Management, Village Disaster Management Groups for all the great work that they have done to try to keep Kampong Speu as a safe place as possible.

He also expressed his special thanks to ECHO Humanitarian Fund that supported the project and the campaigns. DCA and LWD had worked alongside with the communities and relevant stakeholders since 2013. “I look very much forward to continue this constructive collaboration. And I am sure that this will create good health, long live, and a clean environment for everyone,” he said.

Svay Sarun

Mr. Svay Sarun, Deputy Governor for Samrong Tong District, highly valued the campaigns and thanked LWD, DCA, ECHO, and other involved stakeholders for all the support to communities in the district.

He also advised the communities to be well prepared and cope with the disaster and adapt to the changing climate. “In order to adapt to the climate change, farmers must change their traditional farming practice by applying modern agricultural techniques,” he said.

Each campaign included a joke on DRR-related theme, three DRR-related knowledge quizzes participated by audience, disaster preparedness video shows, and combined with a concert. The third campaign will be conducted on Jan 22 in the same province.

LWD is a member of a consortium with DCA, Action Aid Cambodia (AAC) and People In Need (PIN), implementing the “Building Disaster Resilient Communities in Cambodia IV” project, financed by European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). The implementation period is June 2017 – November 2018.